Black Wings and a Broken Promise
by Strawberry Fuzz
Summary: Oneshot. My story for the one year ending anniversary of YGO in America which is today!. Yugi, lost in confusion, is aided by the Sun God, Ra, in order to bring an old and dearly missed friend back.


**Author's Note: **I know that I haven't updated on my major story in a while, but please hang in there readers. This second semester of school really loaded me down, and I just now got done with school. But now I have time to update, I promise you that you will get an update on June 18, which is the 1 year anniversary of my story! I will be updating then. I promise.

Until then, I remembered that 1 year ago _today_, Yu-Gi-Oh! ended in America. I remember that day as clear as crystal. Do any of you? Please say so in your review (if you do), then. So I wrote this in remembrance of that day. It's just a short oneshot, but I tried to make it as emotional as possible. Please read and review, and enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!. I only own my ideas.**

_Black Wings and a Broken Promise_

It was late . . .

Past midnight, in fact . . .

Yugi ran as fast as he could, mindlessly slipping through the wet streets and thrusting wind, barely noticing the malevolent storm that surrounded him and Domino City. Jet black clouds swirled viciously above him as he ran, water droplets dashing down from the sky like miniature bullets that hunted for a glimpse of flesh to land on. The wind driving in all directions, it was hard to walk two feet without sidestepping or losing one's balance as the air pushed and pulled in confusing directions.

Yet Yugi continued to run. He never even understood why he was running. He had just known that sitting at home had been too much for him. Every moment that passed had been torture for Yugi as he stood in his bedroom of the Mutou game shop. He had stood in front of his window for hours, longingly staring out as a monstrous thunderstorm flowed into Domino. He remembered that he had had his face pressed against the windowpane, little clouds of mist forming as he breathed, his mind racing as thoughts zoomed through, and his eyes glazed over in violet concentration. Something had been calling him to run outside, to jump through the city streets and to pant in a loss for air as he traveled to a destination unknown. The sensation had been too strong to ignore. And so, without taking notice of his old grandfather's calls of protest, Yugi traveled into the outside, as well as into the unknown.

And now, Yugi was desperately trying to calm that sense of longing and of freedom as he dashed throughout the city, barely noticing the skyscraper that towered into the stormy skies that was Kaiba Corporation or of the grand and elegant building that was the Domino Museum. Yugi's black sleeveless shirt and jeans were soaked by now, as well as his hair, which sagged and flapped in the wind. Yugi's face was covered in droplets of rain, as well, with two streams of water streaming down his face from his purple orbs that were mixed with both rain and tears. And even though he was crying, Yugi really did not know why, for his mind was a land of confusion and dilemma.

Continuing to mindlessly run past buildings, homes, and businesses, Yugi still felt the need to run. It seemed that no matter how long or fast he voyaged, there was no suppressing this emotion. Through his puzzled mind, a stream of consciousness emerged as the boy came across a dark and abandoned church lying in the middle of the city. With the entire mental strength of his mind, Yugi forced his exhausted body to stop. Gasping for breath, he knelt down to lean on his knees in order to rest and breathe in much welcomed air. After a long moment, Yugi stood up to his short full height in order to observe the medieval chapel in front of him.

Its walls colored pure black, the church's entire shape stretched across hundreds of meters in length. A shadowy trail led up to its gigantic medieval doors. Surrounding its front entrance was a gloomy graveyard, the tombstones of many graves soaked in rainwater, their surfaces lighting up dimly in the glow of the flashing lightning. Looking high above with his neck almost touching the tip of his back, Yugi could tell that the chapel's main tower stretched up into the sky higher than any of the buildings surrounding it, a single small cross at the very top. Through his now returning consciousness, Yugi could tell that it was not a very pleasant chapel, but still he was drawn to it. It was as if his feet were made of metal and inside the church was an enormous magnet that drew his body towards it.

Reluctantly, Yugi walked bare-footed across the stone walkway. Curving his fingers slowly over the twisted handle of the church's doorway, Yugi pulled hard in order to open the rusted knobs and swing open the door. A strange and musty smell overcame him and his scent glands, a drafty wind blowing from the church, and then, due to the storm, fresh and rainy air blowing back inside. Though Yugi could not see anything, he still felt drawn toward something he did not know.

The stone floor beneath his feet felt cool and refreshing. Yugi felt his train of thought slowly return to him as the cold surface touching his smooth and tiny feet revived his spirit. It was at that moment that Yugi became as confused as ever to find himself in a dark and abandoned church. What was he doing here? How had he arrived in the first place? Frowning in perplexity and groaning in unsettlement, the small teenager continued to walk forth, but lost in his thoughts.

Something had drawn him to this place. He could feel it. Though he could not remember at all how he had gotten to the chapel, fear did not grip him yet, for curiosity and confusion gripped his heart at the moment. Could it have been a spirit? Ra knows he had had enough experience with spirits and ghosts. Or could it have been something . . . more? The questions that flowed through his mind were almost overwhelming, so Yugi decided to, with great effort, push them all aside and pay more attention to where he was. After all, that was the point of being drawn here, right?

Looking around in the dark hall, Yugi could hardly see any objects more than two feet in radius of himself. Hardly any light shone in the room, excluding the times when lightning as bright as day illuminated the church. Yugi found no religious objects lying around in the church. But was it not a church? Still, as hard as he strained his eyes, Yugi could only find tables covered in gray dust and empty rows of red seats, the colors faded from disuse. The windows, shaped in gothic style, were consumed in colorful and various sized stained glass.

The pictures depicted by the glass were what intrigued Yugi the most. Once again, no religious scenes were portrayed on the glass, but rather pictures of many amazing and horrible creatures. Yugi could not make out what some of the figures were, but he found one of the biggest windows rendered staggering and miraculous dragons, as well as elegant, graceful, and intimidating angels, all hailing over themselves. It was as if they all worshipped each other, as if they were all comrades. Looking over to the other pictures on the side of the church, Yugi could make out in the glow of the lightning black creatures of various shapes and sizes, all hailing an angel clad in black robes and capes, its face covered from view. Yugi guessed that this angel must be the angel from the underworld, which was so portrayed by the artwork. And there, in the middle of the chapel, on the wall facing the entrance, was what appeared to be a golden being covered in incredible and illuminating armor that was alighted by the sun.

Ra.

Seeing the great beast that was Ra there in front of him, exactly the way he had known it to be for so long, struck Yugi straight in the heart. It was as if the god of the sun were trying to unlock something inside of him . . . something hidden from even his own heart.

A flash of lightning from the stormy skies outside, almost as bright as the glow of the sun itself, suddenly blazed in radiance for a dramatic moment. In that moment, Yugi's life changed. As the light spread throughout the church hall, Yugi looked into the eyes of Ra. In those ruby eyes of the Sun God, a spirit so powerful emanated through Yugi. It was so overpowering that the boy, with his eyes wide in amazement, grabbed the part of his chest where his heart lay. A pain spread throughout his body that made him feel like falling apart at that very moment, but yet Yugi continued to stare deep into the eyes of Ra and what lay underneath them. He was literally inside Ra and all that was part of him.

And inside Ra, Yugi felt the sheer joy of being apart of the universe. He was the sun. He was the Earth. And he was everything that depended on his being.

It was at that point, now ignoring the pain that was continuing to be released from his heart, that Yugi realized why he had been called to this church. All was clear now. But it filled his heart with dread. He remembered.

Today was, after one long year, the day that Atemu had left from his life.

How could he have forgotten? Well, that answer was simple enough. After Atemu had left through the light with the other spirits of ancient Egypt to join the world of the afterlife, Yugi had been devastated. Of course he had tried to be happy for the Pharaoh, for that was what he had always wanted. To move on. But still . . . he had left Yugi. He had left his friends. He had left his life on Earth. And that in itself had broken the boy into a thousand pieces. It had taken all of Yugi's strength to pull all of those pieces back together and regain who he had been, only stronger.

The only price was that he had forgotten Atemu.

Yugi had never realized what a hefty price that would have been. To loose the only one who had ever really cared about him in a special and original way was as bad as it could get. And Yugi realized that now. He had been a fool. Atemu had been everything to him. He had given him strength, courage, friends . . . and in return, Yugi had given him a heart. _How_ could he have given that up?

He had promised himself and Atemu to be glad. He had tried so hard to feel that way as he watched his best friend leave. He had _tried_. But, after many days of trying to feel this way, Yugi finally admitted to himself that this was the one promise he could not fulfill. He could not accept the fact that Atemu had left him. He could not help but think that everything would have been better had Atemu have stayed. He could not be happy for him.

As a result, he had broken the biggest promise of his life.

All of this had occurred in a moment, lasting only until the luminosity of the lightning faded, and the wise glow of Ra's eyes vanished with it.

Yugi had never felt such sadness. It was even harder now that Atemu was long gone. It had been a year since that day. _A year!_ Yugi had never known how long a time that had been until this very moment. And now it ached his heart with every passing second. But he was surprised when he felt a warm, skinny trail of water fall down his cheek. He was crying.

"_Atemu_ . . ." Yugi sobbed quietly, a tear falling silently onto the cold stone floor where it lied glowing faintly in the lightning flash. Yes, Atemu was gone now. And there was nothing he could do about it.

In all of Yugi's gloom, the small boy never realized the loud and thunderous growl that emitted from the black skies above. It was as if an earthquake were attacking Domino, for the thunder was so deafening. Had it not been for the shake of the church, Yugi would have not been knocked out of his thoughts and would not have realized the silent, blue trail of light that was slowly falling from the sky and down to the church from above.

Curiously, Yugi watched as the thin stream of blue light continued to fall. He could not hear any air resistance, rumble, or shake from the falling object, nor could he feel any shake from the ground once the light hit it right outside the chapel. All that showed of evidence of the strange phenomenon was the blinding light that silently spread throughout the entire city once it landed.

Covering his eyes from being blinded by the blue light, Yugi turned his body midway in order to avoid any damage. The church around him finally became truly illuminated for once, but Yugi did not care. That light had brought something to Earth. But what?

After the light finally began to fade, Yugi lowered his arm almost immediately and ran towards to large entrance doors. Full of anxiety, curiosity, and fear, Yugi thrust the doors open with all of his might and stared into the open darkness around him, fresh rain falling onto his face once again, and looked around to his right.

Yugi's heart skipped a beat as he saw what lay before him. He could not believe his eyes.

There, leaning on the tombstone of a Celtic-designed cross, naked as rain dripped onto his pale-skinned body, sat Atemu.

But there was more. He had wings. Black wings as dark as the stormy sky above him, spread out in a protective stance that surrounded his bare body in a circular shape. Though they were hardly moving, they were definitely attached to the former Pharaoh's body.

Sudden undesirable joy filled the young boy's heart at the sudden site of his old friend. His friend's entire body was the same. He still had the same, tri-colored hair of black, gold, and violet-pink, which still had the same star-shaped format. He still had short legs, but longer that Yugi's. He still had the muscular arms that seemed to flow gracefully with his body. And as Yugi watched as his eyes slowly opened to his rainy surroundings, Yugi saw that he still had the same crimson eyes that his yami had always had. The only thing different about him were his newly acquired wings.

Daring to take a step towards his old friend, Yugi became awed. How had Atemu come back? Why so suddenly? And why did he have wings? Many questions formed in his mind, only to halt as the former Pharaoh looked up in his direction, his eyes dull in confusion and wonder. Rain quietly streamed down his face, forming fake tears that Yugi just wanted to wipe away.

Deciding to see if it really was his yami, Yugi cleared his through softly and then murmured, "Atemu?"

A gleam of recognition suddenly flowed through Atemu's eyes, causing them to become lively once again with his wise and cunning stare. Slowly opening his mouth, Atemu tried to voice something, but seemed to have lost his voice, apparently from disuse.

Trying once again, but with more force, Atemu groaned, "Y-Yugi?" Though he had to lean forward to hear because he was so quiet, Yugi heard that deep and godly voice that his yami always seemed to have had. Was it really Atemu? Was it really him? Yugi hardly dared to believe it.

"_Yugi?_" Atemu tried again, this time finding his voice much easier. This gave his mystified mind more confidence, and he finally realized where he was and who was in front of him. "_**Yugi?**_"

"A-Atemu . . . you're back . . ."

**Well? Did you like it? Please review and tell me! I'd love to hear from you! And once again, sorry to all of my readers for my other story. June 18****th****!!!! I never planned to go further than just this chapter, but if many of you request it, I can try to come up with an idea for a new story with this. It'll have to be after I finish my Lord of the Dragons series, though.**

**Okay, well, let us all take this moment to remember what a great show Yu-Gi-Oh! really was. Remember the great times it brought us, the tragic moments that broke our hearts, and the overall best times of our entire day as we sat down on the couch with a soda and chocolate in hand, anxiously waiting for our favorite show to come on Saturday mornings… (at least, that's what I did) Let us all remember Yu-Gi-Oh!, the best anime that ever was created. (sniff)**


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